[MUD-Dev] RE: Storied Games

[Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com]

From: Marian Griffith [mailto:gryphon at iaehv.nl]

> One bit of advise, actually meant for writers but even more vital
> to story telling in games is: Do not Tell but Show what is
> happening.  Players are characters in a story more than they are
> readers of one.  This means that their viewpoint is limited to the
> gameworld and that information must be delivered to them through
> mechanisms that work in that world.
 
> If the orcs attack the village they must do so. If the evil
> overlord is stirring again in his bleak mountain kingdom then the
> player must hear of it from fearfull and barely accurate whispers
> of people who flee the trouble. Similar to how Lord of the Rings
> opens with tavern stories about strange creatures seen in the
> bogs, and border guards having to repell more strangers than ever
> before.  Problem is that all this requires *far* more intelligent
> monsters in games than the typical cardboard figure that is
> prevalent today.  It should be so that simply activating the evil
> overlord in his remote corner of the world has this effect of wars
> starting, people starting to flee their homes, and eventually the
> rumours reaching the remote outposts where the players live.  All
> without further interacttion of the game staff.

This is exactly my thinking. The simulationist approach needs to be
properly explored and implemented. As admins, we want to flap the
butterfly's wings and watch the storms unfold. We don't want to move
every damned cloud.

Dan
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